Affliction Formal Announcement

The national roll out for Affliction's Banned pay-per-view event will begin May 20 & 22 with press conferences in Los Angeles and New York. Scheduled to appear are Fedor Emelianenko, Tim Syliva, Ben Rothwell, Josh Barnett, Pedro Rizzo, Matt Lindland, Fabio Nascimento, Babalu Sobral, and Mike Whitehead. The events are open to the public and will take place at the Westfield Mall in Century City (12:30 PM PST) and Trump Tower (10:30 AM EST) respectively.

The event is scheduled for July 19 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

News Wrap

• UFC Tackles Long Term Growth Issues - The last five pay-per-view events have produced three of the company's top ten events according to Dave Meltzer. UFC 79, 81, and 83 all drew between 525,000-650,000 buys and at $44.95. UFC 79 and 83 also produced the second and third largest gates in company history.
  
• Golden Boy Sticking to Boxing - Oscar de La Hoya recently said that Golden Boy will stick to boxing when asked about MMA.
  
• Viacom CEO Praises Iron Ring - Q1 profits for Viacom were up 33%. CEO Philippe Dauman said, "content creation is our central mission and our ongoing investments in programming are paying off as we see our television ratings continue to improve. Successful new programming across our networks during the first quarter included MTV's Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew, TV Land's High School Reunion and BET's Iron Ring among others, which joined new seasons of several proven audience favorites."
• Another Affliction Deal Falls Through - Negotiations with HDNet have reportedly fallen through. The promotion is now less than two months from its proposed first show and without a venue or television partner.
• UFC Targets Show for Latino Audience - El Octagono will debut on Galavision as the UFC attempts to expand MMA's demographic reach outside of 18-34 white males.
• WWE Q1 Results - Wrestlemania XXIV produced $31.3 million in revenue and $7.1 million in profits ($4.6 million net). The event drew 1,058,000 buys (including international).
  

More Details on 7/17 Affliction Event

More details are emerging on Affliction's first promotional effort which is set for July 17 in Dallas are beginning to emerge. So far the only "announced" fights for the event are Tim Sylvia v. Fedor Emelianenko and Matt Lindland v. TBA. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Sylvia's payout for the event is rumored to be $800,000. Other names rumored to be attached to the promotion/card are Andrei Arlovski, Josh Barnett, and Ben Rothwell. Sources tell MMAPayout.com that the total bankroll for the event may approach $5-6 million.

Anatomy of the Affliction Ban

The UFC's ban of Affliction is one of the most interesting and perhaps under-appreciated stories of recent months in MMA. The brand is one of the most coveted and lucrative sponsors in the industry with a who's who of MMA on its sponsorship roster including Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson, George St. Pierre, and Sean Sherk to name a few. Through royalties from signature shirt sales its sponsored fighters stand to make several hundred thousand dollars per year.

The root of the ban has been the subject of much speculation inside the industry. Last week Dana White offered his explanation of the ban. "I never had a problem with Affliction clothing until they took a picture of Couture and Fedor with no Affliction shirts on, but it looks like a fight poster," White told The Canadian Press. While the ban was inevitable once Affliction's promotional aspirations were revealed, MMAPayout.com has learned that the ban originally stemmed from Affliction's relationship, or at least perceived relationship, with Couture.

The UFC responded to Couture's resignation last fall by enacting a ban on all things Couture. This meant no mention of Couture on UFC broadcasts, no camera shots of Couture cornering fighters, and no Xtreme Couture apparel in the octagon as of UFC 78. The ban affected not only Couture himself, but also a number of fighters sponsored by his brand. The company went so far as to force Wanderlei Silva to move his training from Xtreme Couture for the filming of his All Access Special.

Eight days before UFC 79 the ban was suddenly and unexpectedly extended to include Affliction. The ban was apparently the result of the UFC's belief that Couture was a part owner of Affliction, a common misconception. While Couture and Affliction are co-owners of the Xtreme Couture mark, Couture has no ownership interest in Affliction.

The immediate victim of the decision was St. Pierre who, after wearing Xtreme Couture in August, was scheduled to wear signature Affliction apparel at the event. However, it was Karo Parsiyan, not St. Pierre, who forcefully raised the issue with Joe Silva, Vice President of Talent Relations at the UFC.

Parisyan placed what has been described to MMAPayout.com as a heated phone call to Silva after hearing about the ban. Silva was unaware of the ban, but understood the actual nature of Couture's relationship with the company. He was ultimately able to get the ban reversed after explaining the situation to White. St. Pierre entered the octagon on December 29th in full Affliction regalia.

However, the reprieve was short lived. On January 18, Affliction staged the now infamous photo shoot featuring Couture and Emelianenko in the shirtless stare down referenced by White. Affliction hasn't been seen on a UFC broadcast since.

The company's control of the fighter's "commercial identification" is addressed by three clauses in the standard Zuffa contract:

Fighter covenants and agrees that no wording, symbols, pictures, designs, names or other advertising or informational material (i) for any beer, alcohol, beverage company, tobacco, casino or gaming company, media company (including, but not limited to, HBO, ABC, SET, FOX, ESPN and any Internet related company); (ii) of any sponsor in conflict or competition with ZUFFA or any of ZUFFA’s sponsors; (iii) of any sponsor causing injury to the reputation of ZUFFA or ZUFFA’s sponsors and/or their respective officers and owners; or (iv) which has not been pre-approved in writing by ZUFFA and iN DEMAND, L.L.C. shall appear on the trunks, robe, shoes, regalia or any other part of the costume or the body (including by use of temporary or henna tattoos) of Fighter or any of Fighter’s Affiliates during or at any Bouts, Pre-Bout Events or Post-Bout Events.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, ZUFFA shall have the right to include any advertising or other informational material of ZUFFA, ZUFFA’s sponsors or other entities designated by ZUFFA on the trunks, robe, shoes, regalia or any other part of the costume of Fighter or any of Fighter’s Affiliates during or at any Bouts, Pre-Bout Events or Post-Bout Events.

For television purposes, Fighter must be clearly distinguishable. Therefore, Fighter shall provide one (1) pair of dark-colored trunks and one (1) pair of light-colored trunks for each Bout. If it is necessary to distinguish Fighter from his opponent, ZUFFA shall have sole discretion to require Fighter to wear either the dark-colored or light-colored trunks.

At first blush this control might seem unjustified, but upon further consideration it makes perfect sense to a degree. It is obvious that for most companies sponsoring a fighter is merely a means to ride the UFC's marketing coattails. As a result, it is more than reasonable for the company to seek to exercise some control over which brands it allows into the octagon and the company has generally been very judicious in its use of the power.

However, their are those in the industry who believe that fighters should be given some financial consideration in the event a sponsorship is blocked, particularly if it was approved when the deal was signed. This is an issue, along with other ancillary rights, worth keeping an eye on as the sport continues to grow, sponsorships become more lucrative, and promotional opportunities more plentiful.

Fedor-Sylvia Report Raises Interesting Questions

This afternoon Fedor Emelianenko confirmed to Sherdog.com that he will face Tim Sylvia on July 19. The bout will reportedly headline an event promoted by Affliction at American Airlines Arena in Dallas and air on HDNet Fights. MMAPayout.com reported earlier this month that the clothing company had scraped plans for a June debut in Las Vegas and was tentatively planning a July date in Houston.

The report raises a number of interesting questions, but none more interesting than Fedor's contractual arrangement for the event. MMAPayout.com has received multiple unconfirmed reports of an offer worth slightly more than $2 million per fight from Affliction to Emelianenko. Sylvia is under contract to Adrenaline, the successor to M-1 Global which dissolved last month after parting ways with Fedor.

Regardless of the final details, this event appears to have all the makings (two promoters and a third party television outlet/producer) of the first major co-promotional event in MMA history. The bout has storied history, reportedly in the making for several years with Dana White originally offering to send Sylvia to Pride to fight Emelianenko. The bout would also put to rest reports that Emelianenko was "afraid" to fight Sylvia.

The most interested observer of the bout in July might very well be Randy Couture. Assuming a favorable outcome in pending litigation, admittedly a big assumption, Couture hopes to fight Fedor in October of this year. An Emelianenko loss could potentially put that fight in jeopardy, or at the very least take much of the luster of the bout.

Growth of MMA Clothing Companies

Ontario's Peterborough Examiner recently ran a feature on the growth of clothing companies in MMA. The space has been inundated with new brands in recent years in what has become a lucrative, but increasingly competitive, space:

"Right now everybody who even thinks of a slogan puts it on a shirt," says J.T. Stewart, chief marketing officer for Cincinnati-based American Fighter. "You've got all kinds of people trying to eat at your market share ... Yeah, everybody wants a piece of pie, because it's a hot commodity."

"We were probably in the nick of time, I would say," Jim Baltutis, director of marketing for One More Round, said from Los Angeles. "I would sure hate to be a new company, trying to get some sort of presence, especially at retail. There's a lot of people knocking on doors right now."

Dana White on the root of the Affliction ban:

"I never had a problem with Affliction clothing until they took a picture of Couture and Fedor with no Affliction shirts on, but it looks like a fight poster," White told The Canadian Press.

"That was when I had a problem with Affliction. What happens is a lot of these guys start to lose their minds.

"Are you a clothing company or are you a fight promoter?"

Fedor Update

The never ending story that is the Fedor Emelianenko sweepstakes continues after the collapse of M-1 Global with no end in sight. EliteXC reportedly made a four fight, seven figure offer, however, the sides appear to be far a part on terms with Gary Shaw's statement that Fedor wants $2 million per fight. The UFC is also reportedly interested, but the two sides remained far apart last year despite prolong negotiations.

Affliction Update

MMAPayout.com has received unconfirmed reports that Affliction's promotional effort will move forward despite the collapse of a potential partnership with Golden Boy. The company's first show is now believed to be tentatively scheduled for July in Houston. Originally the promotion, with Golden Boy, was rumored to be targeting a June debut in Las Vegas.

The promotion is rumored to have signed a number of major fighters to non-exclusive contracts, although none have been announced, lucrative enough that multiple sources have told MMAPayout.com that the payroll of an event featuring all of the company's contracted fighters could far exceed the average UFC payroll.